My 12gal AP at 4.5months..pics and ?'s

[ProAccordV6]

Hello....i've been reading these forums for a while now, but i've never posted pictures of my tank. I'd like to thank everyone who posts here. This forum has been very helpful.

Here is the tank at about 4.5 months (took the pictures a couple weeks ago..finally put them up. I've slowly been adding small corals here and there....i plan to just stick with softies and easy things while i learn. I have 17 lbs of figi live rock, i've removed all of the media except the spunge and a few bio balls. I plan on taking all the bio balls out and putting LR rubble in one of the middle chambers.

My questions are...how to keep my temp down?... i posted a thread here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=984763 but it hasnt recieved much feedback...if you wanna comment there, that would be great. Also, i am interested in getting the film off the top of my water...i've heard of the plexi glass mod...any more info on that??

thanks in advance...let me know what you think of the pics and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[Nanomaniac]

The tank is beautiful and the pictures are great especially the third one. The key to eliminating surface film is surface agitation either by a surface skimmer, pointing one of those outputs towards the surface, or by adding a powerhead just for surface agitation.

About the temperature in your other thread to mentioned that the temperature was at 82-83 which is perfectly fine and many people run their tanks at or above 80F. I personally run my saltwater tanks at 80-82F without a problem. However if you do want to lower the temperature than installing a small fan would probably help. I've never owned this type of tank so I'm not quite sure on how to install one.

Hope this helps and keep us updated on how the tank is doing.

 

[timewaster]

Have you had any trouble keeping 2 clowns in a 12 gallon? I was under the impression that this would be too much bioload (I'm a newbie).

 

[ProAccordV6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8661442#post8661442 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by timewaster
Have you had any trouble keeping 2 clowns in a 12 gallon? I was under the impression that this would be too much bioload (I'm a newbie).

my parameters have not indicated any problem. I also have about 3-4 crabs, some snails, both hitch hiker and store bought, and a decent amount of live rock. I only feed the fish once every two days. I do a 2 gallon water change about once every 7 to 10 days. But from what i've read, two clowns is not a problem as far as bio-load is concerned. I may in the future add some kind of sifting fish....like a blenny or goby once my tank becomes more established.


And thanks nanomaniac

 

[robby818]

Looks great ProAccordV6, just wondering how much time did you allow between each phase of your setup. I just got a 12 gallon Nano and I filled it with water and live rock from my LFS two days ago. I'd like to do something similar to your setup so how soon before I can start adding invert. and soft corals.

 

[MrMexReefer]

Great pics! I love the polyp extension on the leather in the 3rd pic!

 

[drummereef]

Awesome pics. Love the last pic especially.

 

[billr]

Hey ProAccordV6, I too just set up a couple of aquapods. Can yo PM me or list your time line/table on your set up? Thanks, Bill.....

 

[macperry]

What is that in the left rear corner of the tank?

 

[ProAccordV6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8661903#post8661903 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by robby818
Looks great ProAccordV6, just wondering how much time did you allow between each phase of your setup. I just got a 12 gallon Nano and I filled it with water and live rock from my LFS two days ago. I'd like to do something similar to your setup so how soon before I can start adding invert. and soft corals.

I added sand, water, and 12 or so lbs of LR on the first day I got it. A few days later i bought some more LR to finish off the aquascaping. For the next 5 weeks or so everything remained the same. I was patient, but watching all the hitch hikers, pods, and other organisms was enough to keep me satisfied. I did 2 gallon water changes and rinsed the sponge about every 7 to 10 days from the start. I had some algae blooms while my tank cycles for the first month. I bought a couple timers for the lights right away....the actinics come on about 30 minutes after the other ones...and go off respectively. I run my lights for about 5.5 hours....and during those algae blooms backed them down to like 3 hours until the alage went away. I also removed the filter media except the spunge right when I got it. But if i were you i'd save it all...the carbon can come in handy in the future.

I started adding crabs and a couple snails at 3 or 4 weeks. Although, now i know to stay away from snails that can't right themselves. i would catch then every once and a while on their back. I've heard they can create a spike in amonia that can be detrimental to a tank our size. So they kinda freak me out.

At about 5 weeks, i added the Green start polyps....they came out in about 2 days and looked beautiful ever since with the exception of 1 week when they mysteriously decided to remain closed. They are fine now. I added the watermelon mushrooms a couple weeks later....an so on w/ the rest of the stuff....every few weeks i'll just add some new frag.

At about 2 and a half months, i added the clowns....i made sure my parameters were in check and stable...they hadnt changed since the 5 week mark.....and they haven't since. I added the shrimp a at 3 months or so. Hope this answers your questions. Let me know if you have anymore.

billr ,
This is pretty much the time line. I also added a heater right before i got the fish because i knew they needed stable temps. And i bought a refractometer before at the same time as the heater.

macperry
That thing in the corner is the heater. I accidentally ordered one too big to fit in the rear chambers...but i figured i'd keep it and let it get covered with coraline and i probably wont notice it. I plan on getting a bigger tank in the future anyway...after a while.

thank you all for your compliments